Video Highlights, Ansonia-Torrington, NVL-SWC Scheduling News

Congratulations to all of you on surviving the winter sports season. We extend special congratulations to all of the winter NVL champions and those who made strong showings in state tournament play, particularly the Watertown boys basketball squad for reaching the Class M final and the Sacred Heart boys swimmers for winning the Class S title.

Here are two of Remmy's 2011 NVL season highlights to hold you over. The 2011 Playoff highlight video will be released before the beginning of April. The following two videos contains highlights from the 2011 NVL season.

2011 NVL Playoff Highlights

2011 NVL First-Half Season Highlights

2011 NVL Second-Half Season Highlights

And here are three videos we did not have a chance to add to the Season Highlights:

Seymour vs. Emmett O'Brien Tech
Torrington vs. Ansonia
Ansonia vs. Derby

We're now just one season away from the resumption (essentially) of football season. Hang in there for about another two months and we'll see if we can pump out some of those spring football previews like we did last year. Schools have until April 1 to declare whether they will participate in spring football or add extra days to the beginning of fall workouts. Nine of 14 NVL schools elected for spring football in 2011, with Derby, Sacred Heart, Seymour, Watertown, and Wilby choosing the fall option. We will post the decisions when they are finalized.

In other news, it looks like all 14 head coaches will be staying with their teams as no vacancies have been posted anytime in the offseason. This comes one year after we saw three teams hire new coaches--Jay Pace to Wolcott, Patrick Russo to Wilby, and David Jurewicz to Crosby.

Much of the recent talk on the blog has centered on potential scheduling not only for 2012, but for the two 11-game regular seasons that will follow. I gained some updated information on these issues Monday, and here's what I've got for you.
  • It appears as though Torrington and Ansonia will not square off again in Week 1 of the regular season, according to updated information Monday night. The Red Raiders' plan is to either find another nonconference game or settle with a nine-game regular season. We haven't had the chance yet to find out what Ansonia's plan will be to fill the gap.
  • Naugatuck and Wilby will play each other in Week 1, as will Watertown and Montville. There is no definitive word yet whether other teams will pick up NVL games, nonconference games, or no games in their spots. Woodland also has posted a Week 3 schedule opening on the CIAC website.
  • None of the schedules have been posted yet to the CIAC website. Most teams from the state's major conferences have already posted their schedules (I've got a little backdoor way to see them), but none of the NVL schedules are up as of Monday. We'll link to them as soon as they are up.
  • The nine-game league schedule (six division games, three crossover games based on power rankings) will remain the same this season, with teams switching home fields from where they were in 2011. This is the second and final year of the current power schedule rotation, so the league schedule will change based on the previous two years' standings for the 2013 season.
  • 2013 and 2014 will both feature 11-game regular seasons, as is the case once every few years. The NVL will keep its nine-game league schedule, with a 10th game as a free nonconference opportunity. Teams may either schedule others from around the state, a non-scheduled NVL team, or leave the week open as to not play the extra game.
  • The NVL-SWC agreement to play interleague games in both the 2013 and 2014 seasons is "almost a done deal," I was told on Monday. As it was previously explained to me, NVL and SWC teams will be matched up based on their leagues' respective power rankings. For example, in 2013, the No. 1 NVL team would face the No. 1 SWC team, and in 2014, the No. 1 NVL team would face the No. 2 SWC team. There is still plenty of time for this agreement to take shape, but it looks like it will happen.
By the way, we're up to 397 likes on our Facebook page. Whoever becomes No. 400 will get a shout-out right here on the blog.

Enjoy the great weather and what should be a very entertaining, competitive spring season (especially baseball). Remember, just because the head honchos aren't posting doesn't mean we're not watching...

Torrington wins 2012 NVL Weightlifting Competition

Damian LaJoie and Torrington won the NVL weightlifting competition on Saturday.
Credit: Jim Shannon/Rep-Am
Congratulations to Torrington on winning the 2012 NVL weightlifting competition by edging Wilby on Saturday. The full list of the 10 league teams (Derby, Kennedy, Naugatuck, and Watertown did not participate) who competed is as follows:
Wilby's Andy Duval lifted the second-most weight (1,025 lbs.)
at the NVL weightlifting competition and earned two awards
on the day. Credit: Jim Shannon/Rep-Am

1. Torrington (12,370 lbs.)
2. Wilby (12,151 lbs.)
3. Ansonia (11,550 lbs.)
4. Woodland (11,120 lbs.)
5. Holy Cross (11,100 lbs.)
6. Seymour (10,810 lbs.)
7. Wolcott (10,525 lbs.)
8. Sacred Heart (9,980 lbs.)
9. St. Paul (9,175 lbs.)
10. Crosby (7,990 lbs.)

It's probably not much of a surprise that the two head coaches with the most expertise and emphasis on strength and conditioning finished one-two at the competition. Individually, Woodland's Jeremy Clark lifted the most weight (1,050 lbs.), just ahead of Wilby's Andy Duval (1,025 lbs.). Duval received the Most Valuable Lifter and Outstanding Senior Award.

Here are the top three lifters in each weight class' disciplines:

160-and-under
Squat: Joan Toribio, Torrington (410 lbs.); Nick Lorenzo, Torrington (360 lbs.); Jacob Thomas, Wilby (350 lbs.)
Bench: Jacob Thomas, Wilby (250 lbs.); Joan Toribio, Torrington (250 lbs.); Nick Lorenzo, Torrington (250 lbs.)
Power clean: Joan Toribio, Torrington (250 lbs.); Nick Lorenzo, Torrington (245 lbs.); Enrique Bello, Torrington (240 lbs.)
Overall champion: Joan Toribio, Torrington

161-180
Squat: Gabriel Gonzalez, Wilby (375 lbs.); Josh Tilton, Seymour (360 lbs.); Guen Park, St. Paul (350 lbs.)
Bench: Gabriel Gonzalez, Wilby (285 lbs.); Guen Park, St. Paul (255 lbs.); Sam Szyndlar, Holy Cross (255 lbs.)
Power clean: Josh Tilton (245 lbs.); David Coggins, Sacred Heart (245 lbs.); Hezekiah Duncan, Ansonia (235 lbs.)
Overall champion: Gabriel Gonzalez, Wilby

181-200
Squat: Adrian Brown, Holy Cross (405 lbs.); Kevin Brennan, Woodland (405 lbs.); Rob Brito, Seymour (380 lbs.)
Bench: Jarrod Foote, Wilby (285 lbs.); Andrew Matos, Ansonia (285 lbs.); Ephrain Collins, Ansonia (275 lbs.)
Power clean: Kevin Brennan, Woodland (275 lbs.); Brenden Lytton, Torrington (270 lbs.); Andrew Matos, Ansonia (265 lbs.)
Overall champion: Kevin Brennan, Woodland

201-220
Squat: Levi Fancher, Woodland (440 lbs.); Jh'mel Trammel, Ansonia (410 lbs.); Jordan Morrissey, Holy Cross (405 lbs.)
Bench: Noel Burgess, Wilby (330 lbs.); Jh'mel Trammel, Ansonia (290 lbs.); Adam Grantmeyer, Torrington (285 lbs.)
Power clean: Phil Bresson, Torrington (260 lbs.); Adam Grantmeyer, Torrington (255 lbs.); Levi Fancher, Woodland (255 lbs.)
Overall champion: Levi Fancher, Woodland

Over-220
Squat: Jeremy Clark, Woodland (500 lbs.); Andy Duval, Wilby (475 lbs.); Torrin Howard, Wilby (475 lbs.)
Bench: Antone Mack, Ansonia (290 lbs.); Jeremy Clark, Woodland (290 lbs.); Sam Hunter, Holy Cross (290 lbs.)
Power clean: Andy Duval, Wilby (265 lbs.); Antone Mack, Ansonia (260 lbs.); Jeremy Clark, Woodland (260 lbs.)
Overall champion: Jeremy Clark, Woodland
Woodland's Jeremy Clark lifted the most weight (1,050 lbs.) of any participant at the NVL weightlifting competition on Saturday. Credit: Jim Shannon/Rep-Am
The state weightlifting competition will be Saturday, March 17, at Wilby.